Letter from Rear-Adm. Sir Samuel Hood to General Jacob de Budé describing in detail successful British naval action against the French earlier in the month [presumably the Battle of the Saintes] and his great disappointment that the French fleet was not pursued, enclosing various letters exchanged between himself and Sir George Rodney [0681], and a list of French ships taken.
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Ensign staff, with all signal ones together—This was just after Sun sett, and by Boat had scarcely boarded her; but Sir George made the signal & brought too, and continued to lay too, all night—In the Morning not a ship of the flying Enemy was to be seen; a sad misfortune truly! In the business of yesterday; I was most exceedingly [[underline]] disappointed, [[/underline]] in the commander in chief; in the first instance for nothing making the signal for a general chace the instant he hawled that down for the line of battle had he so done, I am confident, we should have had twenty of the Enemy’s ships of the Line in our possession at Sunsett. — Instead of that, for the greatest part of the afternoon, he pursued with the body of his fleet, only under his Topsails, though the flying ships, had all the said sett their very shattered state would permit—In the next, that he did not continue to pursue, under that easy sail so as to have kept sight of the enemy, all night, which would have enabled him to have captured almost every ship of the Enemy the next day; instead of laying too the whole night — But why he should bring too, because the Ville de paris was taken I cannot comprehend. [[catchword]] Early [[/catchword]]
